Journal of FARM SCIENCES, Vol 29, No 5 (2016)

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Old shirt into functional apron: A creative idea for recycling household textiles

JYOTI V. VASTRAD, RAJASHRI S. KOTUR

Abstract


Agriculture is one of the major occupations and largest livelihood provider in India. India has world’s largestnumber of agriculture workers, as more than sixty percent of population is engaged in agriculture. Farm workers performstraneous tasks and are exposed to many occupational health hazards such as cuts/wounds, itching in hands and other partsof body, breathing problems and headache attributed to ignorance and lack of awareness regarding usage of functionalclothing. Most of the farm women wear old shirt as upper garment and warp around old sari piece around waist whileperforming agricultural activities. Therefore in the present study an effort was made to revive old shirt into functionalclothing (apron) suitable for agricultural operations. Removal of collar, cuffs and extension of the length comprised thepattern -1. Converting the shirt collar to stand collar, removal of cuffs and extension of length comprised the pattern -2.Pattern -1 fetched more comfortability and overall acceptability by the farm women for agricultural operations viz,harvesting, threshing and winnowing activities of chick pea and wheat crops. However, the comfortability is furtherdependent on the fibre content of the old shirt. Similarly hand gloves, mask and head gear were also be constructed using oldjeans pant and cotton material for protecting the hands, face and head. Such clothing not only save cost but also helpprotecting the environment and human being.

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